Shop Welder Advice

klammer

klammer

Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
580
Hello Folks - Looking to pick up a welder in the $1000 range (+/- a couple hundred) for around the shop. Uses would be for tool fabrication, Damascus etc. Able to weld up to 1/4" to 3/8" Plate? Been a while but have welded MIG / Stick. Assume a decent MIG welder would be more useful than stick apart from different choices in rods? 220 power avail.

Any advice as to what knife makers find most useful / what they use / "wished" they purchased in a welder would be appreciated.

Thanks
Klammer
 
I have stick & mig. I use the mig 90% of the time. The quality of the mig would make a difference as cheap/small units lack the heat for heavy work. I have a Lincoln SP135 [wired 110 for portability] with no complaints in over 12 years. 3/8" is no problem.
 
As a certified welder and long time IronWorker I have a fair amount of experiance with welding machines. I know that a lot of people like the little wire feed units like the sp135 ( i have one as well ) but they are fussy to work with and do not give good penetration on anything but sheet metal. They do not like to weld anthing that is not very clean and rust free. It takes time to change out the rolls of wire and tips if you need to change for some reason. The bigger more powerfull mig units still have some of the same problems and they can be complicated for some people. On the other hand $300 AC/DC stick machine will do anything that you need to do including welding well over 1" thick plates. The best thing about stick machines is that you can have several types and sizes of electrodes on hand to weld anything from sheet metal to stainless steel up too rusty 1" thick plate. Try that with a wire feeder. My welders are 1. Miller MaxStar 140 inverter (great stick machine) $1200 2. Hobart Handler 140 (similar to the SP135 but with more power) $600 and my dads old $200 AC stick machine. Of those 3 the least usefull is the wire feeder. At work we run Miller big 50's pushing LN25 wire feeder's For big welds and run stick for everything else..
 
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I have a lincoln SP175 plus 220v mig. I just sold my buzz box stick so I could buy more knife making stuff! I hadn't used my stick for years and I still use my mig all the time. A brand name 220v mig will weld a lot around the house. I wouldn't repair a bulldozer with it, but mine has served me well for fabbing up my Grinder in a Box and all the parts I've made for my Jeeps.

If you get a 220v mig, I suggest you pick up one of these 2 books on ebay or somewhere used... I think they are college books.
Modern Welding Modern Welding
Welding principles and applications welding Principles and Applications
 
I would suggest a mig machine and a stick machine for the well equipped shop however if you normally don't deal with materials under 1/8 inch Id start out with a stick box that will do DC (Direct Current). Get one that will run off 220 and a 50 A breaker for it and you should be able to use up to 1/8 inch rod... Mig machines really excel at sheet metal type things and they don't do well with anything but clean metal, no paint, rust, scale, or any other contaminates as they will most likely give less than optimum penetration or heaven forbid porosity. I have in my garage both a Miller millermatic135 wire feed mig welder and a Lincoln tombstone stick welder, and both get used for different things... the miller sees more use on my jeep and other car type projects and the stick machine when I don't want to fully clean the material or if its a really thick piece an inch thick or so... I would also recommend the Modern welding book its very well written and has a lot of really good knowledge... If ya have any other questions i would be more than happy to help I have used a vast variety of different machines and processes for welding, i do it for a living...
 
Thank you all for the input. I did a lot of welding in school and just after (MIG, stick, TIG) but that was about 12 years and many lost brain cells ago now. uses would mostly be fabrication around the shop building stands for my anvils and post vices, building a new coal forge, propane forge bodys etc. I think a stick would be the way to go given the advice, only gap would useful in welding up Damascus billets. I mostly hear folks reference MIG, assume that is because the metal is all clean....
 
If you just needed something for setting up damascus billets--to tack weld pieces of steel together/attach rebar on the end, wouldn't a stick welder do just fine?
 
I use a 220v Miller at work ( I forget the exact model), primarily with .035 wire and 75/25 gas and it does everything I need it to. Yesterday, I welded a 14g oil dipstick handle back together and then repaired the 1/2" thick hitch on a snow groomer with ease. GMAW is very versatile, especially with proper prep, and I use it more than either of my stick setups for indoor welding.
 
i have a Millermatic 140 MIG and a Miller Diversion 180 TIG and a Smith medium duty Oxyacetylene rig. I have been quite happy over the years with the Miller MIG and the Smith torch, and I just got the TIG for dealing with Aluminum and Stainless. If you use mixed gas with the MIG and understand it's power limitations and how to work around them the little baby Miller is a great machine. In retrospect I should have gotten a stick welder at some point, but everytime I was doing something too thick for my MIG I used acetylene or forgewelded it

-Page
 
I just started seeing ads in Practical Welding for a smallish multi-process machine that will do MIG, stick, and TIG with a built in wire feeder. I have not seen one in person yet, but if I did not have a shop full of welding machines, that's a machine I would be looking at
 
I'm going to offer the slightly dissenting opinion here, especially in light of the fact that you said 220 isn't an issue.

I've got a little Hobart Handler 187 mig unit (smallest 220 welder currently made under that brand), and while its great for tacking billets, and basic stuff, the low duty rating (30%?) and single pass capacity often leave me wanting more. I was on a budget at the time, but if I had the money to spend, I would have, and currently am looking for a used Millermatic 250/251/252.

They can be had second hand for 1000-1200, especially the 250s, and everytime I use one I'm thrilled with them. Admittedly, I'm not a welder by trade, but I don't like finding myself in a position of not having enough tool for the job, whatever that may be.

You've got the budget why skimp and regret it later? Personally I'd never buy a 110 welder if I had the capability to run a 220 unit.
 
javand said:
I'm going to offer the slightly dissenting opinion here, especially in light of the fact that you said 220 isn't an issue.

I've got a little Hobart Handler 187 mig unit (smallest 220 welder currently made under that brand), and while its great for tacking billets, and basic stuff, the low duty rating (30%?) and single pass capacity often leave me wanting more. I was on a budget at the time, but if I had the money to spend, I would have, and currently am looking for a used Millermatic 250/251/252.

They can be had second hand for 1000-1200, especially the 250s, and everytime I use one I'm thrilled with them. Admittedly, I'm not a welder by trade, but I don't like finding myself in a position of not having enough tool for the job, whatever that may be.

You've got the budget why skimp and regret it later? Personally I'd never buy a 110 welder if I had the capability to run a 220 unit.
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That Millermatic will be a huge step up from the Hobart. You jogged my memory and it's a 251 I've got at work, great machine. I never completely understood why they manufacture 220v welders with such limited capabilities. For the sake of weight and space, maybe?
 
Being in the welding supply bus. I would steer you to any of the big names. MILLER(I like blue) Hobart(owned by ITW, which also owns Miller: In what we do Hobart is generally about 100$ cheaper, most of the line is the same machine, but some parts are cheapened(plastic)

Lincoln, and Esab(newer version of the old Linde)

I have had a Millermatic 210(current model is the 212) excellent machine, classed as light industrial, which means anything you would ever want to do can be accomplshed with this. Just not recommended for a "production" atmosphere. I have welded 3/4 and 1 inch plate with this machine, with no hiccups.

I downgraded to a Millermatic 180, mostly for space, and portability and I no longer have a spoolgun for aluminum.

Duty cycle isnt really an issue unless you under take big projects, and in that sit. I guarantee your duty cycle will be less than the welding machine in most cases.
 
Blais,

200volt macine with limited capabilities? Space, wieght(not so much) price(a big factor) and efficiency.

Say Joe the hobbyist/homeowner/small acreage, wants/needs a welder, for the occasional repair, mower deck, trailer frame, maybe car restore, yet doesnt really need a MM251, so in that case doesnt want to spend 2k on a machine that rarely get used.
A 110 version doesnt really have enough oomph for what he wants to do. So he gets a a little of both worlds. hotter than a 110 volt, efficiency of a 220 volt, yet not the expense of an industrial machine.

You may think that MM251 is great, and it is. BUT there are many thousand of the old MM200 out there over its almost 30 year lifespan.
 
SeanMK said:
Blais,

200volt macine with limited capabilities? Space, wieght(not so much) price(a big factor) and efficiency.

Say Joe the hobbyist/homeowner/small acreage, wants/needs a welder, for the occasional repair, mower deck, trailer frame, maybe car restore, yet doesnt really need a MM251, so in that case doesnt want to spend 2k on a machine that rarely get used.
A 110 version doesnt really have enough oomph for what he wants to do. So he gets a a little of both worlds. hotter than a 110 volt, efficiency of a 220 volt, yet not the expense of an industrial machine.

You may think that MM251 is great, and it is. BUT there are many thousand of the old MM200 out there over its almost 30 year lifespan.
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I guess so but I'd rather have the capability to do heaver work and not need it as often. Then again, most of the work I do is 1/4" and up.
 
Well, in it's defense, my handler 187 is rated single pass 5/16, and obviously that's just the "stick it together and weld" rating, but I still prefer the 250s. Still, I haven't run into a job it couldn't handle, and I don't think I've ever needed a higher duty cycle.

All that being said, I prefer forged to finish or zero power tool knifemaking, yet I have a power hammer, and seem to be acquiring industrial sized equipment on a daily basis, so obviously I'm not only a hipocrite but I've got a tool addiction also. =/
 
javand said:
Well, in it's defense, my handler 187 is rated single pass 5/16, and obviously that's just the "stick it together and weld" rating, but I still prefer the 250s. Still, I haven't run into a job it couldn't handle, and I don't think I've ever needed a higher duty cycle.

All that being said, I prefer forged to finish or zero power tool knifemaking, yet I have a power hammer, and seem to be acquiring industrial sized equipment on a daily basis, so obviously I'm not only a hipocrite but I've got a tool addiction also. =/
Click to expand...

Nothing to be ashamed of, I'm an equipment junkie too. With a well-loved oxy/acetylene setup at work, I don't need a plasma cutter but I've got one anyway.
 
If you're leaning toward a MIG, it may be worth considering the Millermatic 211. It's a dual voltage machine, so you can run on either 110V when that's all that's available, or on 220V when you need additional power. Something to consider if that versatility appeals to you.

Full disclosure, I don't have experience with this particular welder, as I bought the single-voltage Millermatic 140 (110V machine) due to cost constraints.
 
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